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We all know about Wikipedia, that vast storehouse of online knowledge that is also the poster child for sometimes inaccurate data. Why do people say you can't trust it? Because it's a wiki.

A wiki comes from the Hawaiian word for "quick" and, as Wikipedia defines it, is "a website whose users can add, modify, or delete its content via a Web browser using a simplified markup language or a rich-text editor." That means it's created by both experts and amateurs, but it also means it has the knowledge and input of literally thousands of contributors.

If you've only ever heard the term "wiki" in regards to Wikipedia, you're missing out. There are thousands of them online with some very specialized contentjust look at the list at WikiIndex, a wiki about wikis. For example, the Wikimedia Foundation that keeps Wikipedia going also supports a dictionary called Wiktionary, a quote collection called Wikiquote, and a free news source called Wikinews, among others. Specialized wikis cover Star Trek (Memory Alpha), Star Wars (Wookieepedia), Muppets, music lyrics , how-to instructions, and every other thing you can think of.

But wikis don't have to be limited to giant websites full of user-generated content. Many companies use a wiki to facilitate tech support, for example. It's like a user discussion forum, but better written (in theory) and better organized. In fact, you personally can put a wiki to work very easily, either for use by a group, you alone, or the entire Internet. The number of tools for creating a wiki almost rival the number of wikis already created. Many have blossomed from old-school wiki software into full-blown corporate collaboration tools (like PBWorks) or into user-content driven sites (check out Wetpaint).

We'll show you some of the tools you can use to create a wiki that's strictly personal and only accessible by you, or a collaborative wiki you either host on your own site or someone else's, open to contributions from all.

Wiki Markup
First, a word about how wikis work and what you need to know to even write in one; this could be the stumbling block that keeps you away from the ways of the wiki.

Because you typically use a Web browser to do your writing inside a wiki, you're not always going to get a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) interface. In trying to make wikis usable by anyone, from the highest tech to the lowest, a syntax was created for marking up text. It's done in a way anyone can handle with any text editor, so the output is always the same. This includes methods for creating headlines, subsection headers, links, horizontal lines, making lists, using bold and italics, and more. It's not even like HTML. It's called wiki markup and, to be honest, if you're new to using a wiki, it'll mean a whole new way of writing.

Wikipedia's own help entry on wiki markup covers it pretty well. For example, linking within a wiki can be pretty simple; put double square brackets around a term like [[Manual of Style]] and that text turns into a link to that page on Wikipedia (if you're putting the link on an internal Wikipedia page). There's no room for error because if you get the name wrong, it won't see the matching page, so no link. More precisely, you'll create a link to an empty page.

If you want to use different text for the link itself, use a pipe character between the link text and the target; [[public transport|transportation]] would show the latter, but link to the former within the wiki. But you don't need the pipe for a link to an external link: [http://www.pcmag.com PCMag] (with single square brackets) would make the link to PCMag.

I won't go too in-depth with this because these rules above apply specifically to Mediawiki, the software that runs the sites of the Wikimedia Foundation (see below). Other sites and software can vary. Be aware as you go in that you may indeed be learning an entirely new syntax for communication, one that might not be worth taking the time to master if your wiki is personal or for a very small group.

Local Installation
By definition, any wiki software you run that's only on your computer is going to be personal. Not that you can't share your PC, but most of these solutions are meant to be simple engines for note-taking.

TiddlyWiki Imagine a wiki that is one giant document. However, the sections are easily accessed not by scrolling but by instantly linking among the areas. In this case, those sections are called "tiddlers," which leads to the name TiddlyWiki. It's essentially an HTML document you can edit from within the browser, then use your browser to access it anytime you want, jumping from tiddler to tiddler as needed. If you put the TiddlyWiki file on a webpage you own, anyone can edit it, giving you some instant group wiki action if needed. If you want a version of TiddlyWiki that's already hosted online, TiddlySpace will provide it, though you will need to know some wiki markup to put it either of them to use.

Zim Wiki This software isn't just for Windows. Linux users may need wikis more than anyone, and this tool lets a user start making notes instantly, creating new pages on the fly with "WikiWords" and some WYSIWYG tools. The Windows-only Linked Notes looks very similar. Both also have portable installers, so you can run them from a USB flash drive and take anywhere.

Notational Velocity This free, open source, Mac-only note taker is for gear heads who never take their fingers off the keyboard. In fact, its Spartan interface doesn't seem particularly Mac-esque. It's all about taking quick notes and quickly finding them again.

Springnote This isn't exactly local, but Web-based Springnote is a note-taking website that states right up front that it's "based on wiki." There are personal and group notebook abilities, even an iPhone app. It's much more geared toward sharing and group projects than a full blown wiki (though you can make a notebook public), so it's great for small groups. It's all WYSIWYG, making it simple for novices to master quickly.

A note about the installable tools above: If you use multiple computers but still want access to this data on all systems, a sync tool like Dropbox will easily make that happen in most cases.

If you think a wiki sounds like a great solution for you to write a personal, private journal, well, it can be. But be careful. These tools are all geared toward the sharing, not the keeping of secrets. You'll want to put the data some place extra safe from prying eyes. If you can't wait to write "Dear Diary" however, there's a great online journal site that prides itself on privacy called Penzu.Next: How to Host Your Wiki >

Eric narrowly averted a career in food service when he began in tech publishing at Ziff-Davis over 20 years ago. He was on the founding staff of Windows Sources, FamilyPC, and Access Internet Magazine (all defunct, and it's not his fault). He's the author of two novels, BETA TEST ("an unusually lighthearted apocalyptic tale"--Publishers' Weekly) and KALI: THE GHOSTING OF SEPULCHER BAY. He works from his home in Ithaca, NY.
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